Re: GNOME 2.24: Worst release cycle I have been a part of [l10n/i18n]

Subject: Re: GNOME 2.24: Worst release cycle I have been a part of [l10n/i18n]

Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:07:03 +0200

2008/10/12 Claudio Saavedra <csaavedra gnome org>:
> El dom, 12-10-2008 a las 14:08 +0200, Kenneth Nielsen escribió:
>> Hello my fellow GNOME enthusiasts
>
>> [...]
>
>> A set of interesting stats.
>> ===========================
>>
>> This is a list of modules, which the GNOME status page has told us on
>> the gnome-i18n list, that there has been made changes to AFTER string
>> freeze on Sep. 1 and until release. (I already sorted the ones out we
>> were told were false alarms).
>>
>> eog 21. sep.
>> gtk+ 19. sep.
>> hamster-applet 17. sep.
>> cheese 15. sep.
>> tomboy 15. sep.
>> glib 15. sep.
>> hamster-applet 15. sep.
>> anjuta 15. sep.
>> hamster-applet 15. sep.
>> gnome-utils 8. sep.
>> mousetweaks 6. sep.
>> anjuta 4. sep.
>> gnome-session 4. sep.
>> deskbar-applet 3. sep.
>>
>> Now I count 14 changes in there and _11_ individual modules.
>
> I would like to point out that probably all of those changes were
> approved by the i18n team, as requested by our procedures. If you
> consider some of those breaks to be unjustified, then you could have
> expressed your opinion during the freeze break requests evaluation. As a
> translator, I am sure your opinion would be well considered before the
> approvals were given.
Yes, either they were approved or they are in the category of
"technically not a string freeze break" which does not require
approval. Another thing is that, for the changes that does require
approval (like the patch for an old or new bug being submitted), yes,
I could have objected. However if it is a patch for a new major bug,
then it should be approved without a hickup no matter if it introduces
new strings or not. , most of the time, I do not feel knowledgeable
enough the matter to make the objection, et the very least not without
having to research the matter in which case it causes extra work no
matter what.
A separate matter is: Why do we always have to be the ones that say
no? With any luck I might be a parent one day, so I really don't want
to have to get into that habit to early. I suppose one of the thing I
asking for, is a little more project (project as in module not GNOME
as a whole) leader responsibility as well, since probably some of
these thing should have been rejected already at that level, before
even reaching us. If you want an example of this, you can read the
thread from the gnome-i18n list from Sep 16 about a string addition to
glade3. I'm not sure whether it really ended up actually adding
strings, but it was clear enough that not many thoughts had been given
to the rest of the group from them.
>> 's in there. Ok let my say this once so clearly that even a 10 year
>> old should be able to under stand it. IT DOES NOT MATTER FOR
>> TRANSLATORS whether it is technically a string freeze or not, new
>> strings means that we will have to update the module once more, and
>> really there are better things to spend our time on. Not knowing about
>> the freezes and old patches! Come on, you are asked to stay of of the
>> strings for 20 freaking days each release, how difficult can that be!
>>
>
> How difficult can it be? Well, far from ideal, for sure. Translators
> work is hard, I know that, and I respect it enourmosly. Seriously. But
> let's not trivialize the fact that it's also hard for us to handle
> issues smoothly during the development cycles. Just as volunteer
> translators, volunteer developers also have a life and sometimes you
> can't get your hands on the issues in the most appropriate moment. Life
> sucks, but believe me that we all make our best effort to make it suck
> as less as possible.
>
> Claudio
I understand the predicament of the volunteer, especially when it
comes to time. But being a volunteer does not mean that you can ignore
your responsibilities once you are commited. Being a volunteer means
that you decide whether you perform the task or not, not that you can
decide to perform it any way or style you want to.
By the way I understand that a lot of developers, volunteers as paid,
are working as hard as they can to keep it all running as smooth as
possible, the only thing I'm saying is that this release felt worse
than usual, to a degree where it really stopped being funny to
contribute. That is a dangerous situation because that is where you
start to loose contributers. Not me off course, this is not that kind
of mail of all, besides I'm also in it for the ideology more than just
for the fun. But new contributers don't have to be exposed to that
much before they call quits and find something else, now being asked
to translated some thousands names of weather stations, a list that
they (if they follow the gnome-i18n list) might expect are far from
done being changed, might just be one of those things that could scare
them of.
Regards Kenneth Nielsen